Surface modification of PET fabric through in-situ reduction and cross-linking of graphene oxide: Towards developing durable conductive fabric coatings

A durable electro-conductive polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabric has been fabricated via reduction and cross-linking of graphene oxide (GO) with SnCl2. The stannous ions (Sn2+) reduce GO and generate multilayer cross-linked and reduced graphene oxide (XrGO) coatings on PET fabric surfaces. In addition to the chemical treatments, thermal annealing was also used to improve the electrical conductivity and durability of coatings on PET surface. The planner aromatic structure of PET promotes the adsorption of the XrGO sheets via pi-pi interactions, and the adsorbed XrGO sheets can be physically fused onto the surface of PET fibers below 200 degrees C, mainly due to the thermoplastic nature of PET. A good washing fastness and mechanical stability has been observed confirming the effectiveness of the chemical cross-linking and thermal anealing on the durability of the conductive coating onto the PET fabric surface.